How large is the average territory of a band of chimps?

[NerdyCavegirl]

Exactly what it says on the tin. It shouldn't be so difficult, but I can't seem to find this info anywhere.

 

[CupofJoe]

I don't think there is an exact figure and there are two types of territory to make it more confusing. There is the Home Range where the group feels safest and will be the area a group needs to support itself and its young and will defend most. A large group of Chimpanzees will need more room and be able to defend it from others, a smaller group less area and less able to defend what they have. This can be tiny [only a few square kilometres].
Then there is the Foraging range which will usually be larger but varies. During times of plenty foraging range may be only a few square kilometres. In times of need or strife they may have to travel a lot further for food or safety. I've read values from 10 to 75 square kilometres for a single group as it changes size and at different times of year.
Terrain will play a part too. A large lake or mountain range that is impassable may make a difference in size and shape of ranges. So will the presence of other groups of Chimpanzees near them and other competitors for food.

 

[skip.knox]

Can't it be approximate, then go with specifics only as the story needs it? Especially since it's fantasy, there's room to fudge.

 

[NerdyCavegirl]

Can't it be approximate, then go with specifics only as the story needs it? Especially since it's fantasy, there's room to fudge.

Because I only fudge things that don't already have an answer through billions of years of complex processes set in motion by a force much more intelligent than myself, and when I do fudge things, I still base it as closely as I can on the known rules and patterns of nature and physics. For example, I have no need to fudge the habits of chimps when it would likely contradict known information, but since no legitimate examples of pyrokinesis have been studied in-depth, I have to figure out how it could possibly work based on real-world electromagnetism and thermodynamics. All that with a 7th grade math level is enough work without just making up stuff about real animals, and such an inconsistency would put to shame the hours of research and calculations I do for other story details.

 

[NerdyCavegirl]

Nor would I plan the ecosystem mid-story; chimps were here long before the events of the story, that'd be like making up mountains as I go. And as the info on chimps is necessary to the design of the main race, this is about as close to doing it "as the story needs it". Who lives, who dies, who ****s who, and whatever else they do in-story can be decided as I go, but worldbuilding, ecology, history, etc must come before the story, as such details of our world come before our own personal stories.